Arma (God)

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Libation offering, also libation offering, to the Luwian moon god Arma. Relief from Arslantepe

Arma was an Anatolian moon god .

Names

The name can be reconstructed as Proto-Anatolian * ʿOrmo "Wanderer". As a moon god, he has been handed down in the form of Arma for Hittites and Luwians . In Lycian it was called Erm̃ma-, Arm̃ma-, in Karisch Armo ( Dat. ) And in Lydian Arm-. In cuneiform texts it is reproduced with the sumerograms d EN.ZU or d XXX, in hieroglyphic Luwian with a crescent moon, which is transcribed with (DEUS) LUNA.

Adoration, duties, myths

While the Hattic moon god Kašku was hardly worshiped, the Hittite - Luwian Arma received great worship. For the Luwians in particular, the moon was associated with the months of pregnancy, so that the moon god protected pregnant women and helped with childbirth (cf. Hittite armaḫḫ- "to get pregnant" and armai- "to be pregnant"). Therefore, the moon god had an important place in the family cult. But he also served as an important oath in state affairs. His wife was Nikkal, taken over from Mesopotamia .

The best-known myth in which the moon god appears is of Hattic origin. In this myth, the moon god Kašku fell from heaven onto the market square / gatehouse of the city of Laḫzan / Liḫzina . The enraged weather god sent heavy downpours after the fallen moon god, so that fear befell them. The goddesses Ḫapantali and Kamrušepa finally helped him by means of incantations.

Equation

Representation of the moon god Arma in the form of the Hurrian moon god Kušuḫ in the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya

Arma was identified with the Hurrian moon god Kušuḫ , also in the Hurrian "Song of Silver" handed down in Hittite sources, in which the moon god is subject to the enemy of the gods silver and is brought from heaven by him. In the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya he is depicted as a bearded god with wings, a pointed cap with a crescent moon on top.

In Syria there was an adaptation to the cult of the moon god of Ḫarran , especially in the 1st millennium BC. BC, where the Harranean Arma was one of the main deities of the Luwian pantheon.

literature

  • Volkert Haas : The Hittite literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-11-018877-5 , pp. 120 f., 150 f.
  • Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch : Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9 .
  • Piotr Taracha : Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8 .
  • Adam Hyllested: Hittite arma- 'moon' and Indo-European rites of passage . IE Matters Even More, Copenhagen 2011.
  • Fred C. Woudhuizen : Two Notes on Lydian. In: Talanta. 42/43, 2010/11, pp. 207-213.
  • Alwin Kloekhorst: Studies in Lycian and Carian Phonology and Morphology. In: Kadmos. 47, 2008, pp. 117-146.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 110.
  2. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 228.
  3. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 227 f.
  4. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 120 f.
  5. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 148.
  6. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 150 f.
  7. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 198.